Jack Tillmany reports that in the movie, about a former cop who tries to solve a murder to get back
onto the force, "actor Hugh O'Connell tries, but fails, to catch a Hyde Street cable car as it descends
the hill around Francisco St."

Jack Tillmany reports that the movie, about an advice columnist, played by
Barbara Stanwyck, starts out in San Francisco. There's an establishing
shot of a California Street cable car heading down the
hill from Powell, but nothing more, and we soon move
to Los Angeles.

Dark Passage is my favorite Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall movie. The film was
made during Hollywood's rediscovery of location shooting; it features wonderful shots
of the Bay Area. Lauren Bacall drives through the Waldo Tunnel when there was only
one bore. She lives in an Art Deco apartment building by the Filbert Steps. The subjective
camera at the beginning is done well. The romance between the leads is moving and
well-motivated. I particularly like the supporting characters, including Agnes
Moorehead as Madge and Housely Stevenson as the creepy doctor.

Bogart leaves Madge's apartment house at the top of the Chestnut Street steps and
catches an O'Farrell, Jones, and Hyde cable car. He is shown hopping onto the left
front bench in a moving shot taken from the car. Remarkably, he hops off Powell
Street car 520 at Market. This trip was not possible until ten years later when the
O/J/H and the Washington/Jackson lines were combined into the Powell/Hyde line.

Edmund O'Brien, staying at the Saint Francis Hotel, hops on inbound Powell Street car
519. Miraculously, he hops off an outbound car at Powell and California. In the Los
Angeles scenes, there are some nice shots of LA Railway PCCs.

"Daydreams" is a Buster Keaton short that Jack Tillmany reminded me
features several glimpses of San Francisco:
"In 'Daydreams,' a two-reel comedy from 1922, partially
filmed in San Francisco, Buster Keaton, as the hapless
hero, is pursued by cops, escapes by grabbing a
Northbound Powell Bay cable car, which he rides around
the turntable at Bay Street, and hops off later on
Columbus Avenue. Later, there's a gag wherein a legion
of cops are hiding on what appears to be an empty MSRY
#27 Line streetcar on Second Street, and he once again
attempts an escape by taking a ferryboat.

"Interesting to note that this makes TWO films from
1922 both of which show the Powell Street cable car on
the turntable at the Bay Street terminal, the other
one being Moran of the Lady Letty with Rudolph
Valentinto, which I reported to you previously."

Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a movie that I have
not seen. Thank you to Dexter Wong for pointing out that "there is a
chase through San Francisco and Sausalito on various vehicles including
two cable cars (one real, one fake - a motorized cable car). At one
point, the two cars climb up Jackson St. past the Washington-Mason
powerhouse, where the real cable car backs into the yard and the fake
one keeps on going." There is a later scene where Vincent Price drives
into the Twin Peaks Tunnel and runs into PCC streetcar 1006.

Jack Tillmany reports that the movie, which stars Jason Robards and Katherine Ross,
features a dream sequence in which Jason Robards performs as
a mad scientist. His laboratory is the cable car barn. Robards plays a retired
horror film actor.

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for reminding me about the one appearance of a cable car:
"... in the lengthy and totally nonsensical chase
that defies all logic as well as San Francisco
geography, there's a brief shot of a Westbound
California Street cable car crossing Larkin Street;
that's all there is, there isn't any more."

Jack Tillmany reports that "about an hour into Gathering of Eagles (1963), there's
a bit of cable car action, the usual thing, (518
Southbound & 513 Northbound) on the Hyde Street hill.
513 conveniently stops ON THE DOWNGRADE, ostensibly
to pick up Rod Taylor & Mary Peach, but they are never
seen on boarding or riding the car, probably never
left the studio."

I Love a Soldier is a 1944 Paramount picture. Jack Tillmany has written a review
(Thanks also to Phil Hoffman for the initial tip about the movie):

I Love a Soldier was a wartime romantic comedy-drama filmed by Paramount Pictures
in San Francisco between October and December 1943, and premiered in San Francisco (probably
at the Paramount) on August 15, 1944. Paulette Goddard plays Eve, a welder in a shipyard
who spends her nights dancing with soldiers and sailors due to ship out immediately. Eve wants
to avoid getting emotionally involved and having her heart broken, but then she meets Sonny
Tufts, who tries to change her mind. Barry Fitzgerald, plays a curmudgeonly surly cable car
gripman.

There are no less than five almost identical shots of 518 westbound on Jackson Street
between Taylor and Jones, where Goddard allegedly lives with her two girlfriends. Another
character played by Beulah Bondi lives in one of the well known Washington Street mansions,
and there's one very brief shot of 517 passing by from the rear. At one point in the story,
the principals go to Playland at the Beach (introduced via a terrific longshot of WWII crowds),
with a visit the Fun House; yes, we see Laughing Sal and some of the interior. There's a
Tunnel of Love ride (non-existent in San Francisco, it's done in the studio) and some rear
projections of the midway and some of the rides.

On no less than four separate occasions we bid farewell to departing soldiers boarding
eastbound Southern Pacific trains at the Oakland Mole. Three times, Goddard returns to San
Francisco via Ferry Boat (the "Berkeley" in one shot), and on one of these there's an air
raid drill and blackout, but Sonny Tufts assures the audience that the planes heard overhead
are ours, not "theirs." That must have been a relief to wartime audiences, especially in San
Francisco, where such practice alerts were all too common.

What's supposed to hold your attention for almost two hours, is a lengthy, rather tedious
romance between the principals, in which Goddard doesn't want to get married until after the
war, and Tufts can't anyway because he's already got a wife back east who's divorcing him.
Yawn. The trials and tribulations of some even less interesting subsidiary characters only
make it longer.

Critics at the time were unkind. After its San Francisco premiere, it did not open in New
York City until the following November, a sure sign that Paramount knew they had a turkey
on their hands. The New York Times trashed it, saying "the situation here presented
is so contrived that its syntheticness is only emphasized by a background of buzzing shipyards
and departing troop trains."

By 1946 the film was still being shown in SF, no doubt because of the local angle, at
sub-run theatres such as the Embassy and Downtown, but by the end of the year had finally
run out of steam and was put back on the shelf, as was the custom.

Once upon a time, this reviewer heard rumors that a Sacramento-Clay cable car, out of
service by the time the film went before the cameras, was used in this film, and it was
towed in order to effect movement. I saw no evidence of this. Perhaps this was the original
plan, there may have been some publicity about it, but it didn't work out. Washington-Jackson
cable car No. 518 is obviously operating normally uphill on Jackson Street in exactly the
same manner as Powell-Hyde cable cars do today. All five shots of 518 are taken from
approximately the same angle, with a glimpse of the Bay Bridge in the distant background.

Paulette Goddard and Sonny Tufts pose on the platform of a cable car. Thanks to the wonderful site
LucyWho.

Murphy the gripman, played by Barry Fitzgerald, works the levers. Normally people aren't
allowed to stand directly behind the gripman.

The letters on Murphy's hat say "Motorman," the name usually applied to operators of electric
streetcars. A pushy passenger also addresses him as "Motorman." This was standard practice in the
1940s.

Murphy offers advice to the three ladies who have just stepped down from the car. The passenger in the
black hat repeatedly points out that the light has changed. "I told ye the lights go on and off all day and
I pay no attention to them and they pay no attention to me."

Murphy rings the bell before proceeding up the hill. "Well, let's see if it works this time."
Annoying passenger: "Doesn't it always?" "If it doesn't, it wouldn't surprise me. It'll send
us all to our deaths." The other passengers laugh. He rings the bell and gets two bells back
from the conductor. "Stand back everybody and hope for the best."

"In 1947 the movie studio RKO contracted with Cal Cable
to borrow a cable car for the movie I Remember Mama (released 1948). It was decided
to ship one the short Jones Street shuttle cars, No. 61, since it would be easier to ship
than a full size cable car. On June 11, 1947 No. 61 was hoisted aboard a truck and shipped
to Los Angeles. The car retained its trucks.

"No. 61, like all Cal Cable cars at the time, needed paint. A combination of the depression,
World War II and an adverse post war economic situation for Cal Cable led to the company’s
equipment looking shabby. RKO, accordingly, painted No. 61. It emerged as No. 62!

"This is clearly shown by a photograph on page 105 of Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg’s book
Cable Car Carnival. Beebe and Clegg wrongly caption the RKO photo by stating that
"RKO Studios in Hollywood supply authentic San Francisco atmosphere for the film of
I Remember Mama with a real California Street grip." The bottom grip Jones Street
shuttles never ran on the side grip California line.

"In the movie the now No. 62 is signed "O’Farrell, Jones & Hyde Streets." Interesting, since
the movie family lived on Steiner Street. They would have to walk 11-blocks to catch a cable
car!

"Why the number change is unclear. Evidence suggests that the car specified in the contract
between the movie studio and Cal Cable was No. 62. No. 61 was sent in place of No. 62 after
the Cal Cable determined that No. 61 was in better condition. Cal Cable was going to get a
freshly painted cable car. The actual reason may never be known.

"Muni in January 1952 purchased Cal Cable and in early 1954 the renumbered 62 was motorized
on truck chassis by Muni for parades, charters and the annual
Cable Car Bell-Ringing Contest. At the time it was correctly signed "O’Farrell, Jones &
Hyde Streets."

"The original No. 62 was renumbered to No. 61 painted and placed on rubber tires, but not
motorized and shipped during November 1959 to Osaka Japan for display at the
Osaka Transportation Museum. Unfortunately, No. 61 was incorrectly signed "Van Ness Ave,
California & Market Streets." Subsequently, when now Muni's No. 62 was repainted it was also
given this incorrect signage, which is its status today."

Car 62 waits in the staging area for 2005 San Francisco Carnaval Parade.
The car was decorated by gripman Val Lupiz and other members of the Cable Car
Division, Transport Workers of America Local 250A.

Paula Prentiss, playing the wife of officer Tom Tryon, walks out of an apartment
building at Hyde and Lombard and boards outbound car 512. This is an anachronism
because the O'Farrell Jones and Hyde line still ran during the war, using California-type
cars. In any event, it's a nice shot. In order not to waste time between takes, Preminger
used two cable cars. In addition to car 512, car 514 was also used. Decals were put on 514
that read "512." Thanks to Phil Hoffman for this information.

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for reporting about In Love and War:
In Love and War (1958) is a decent film dealing with
Marines and their romantic involvements as well as
psychological problems during WWII; some of it takes
place in San Francisco. There are the usual postcard
exteriors, including a pair of California Street cable
cars passing each other on the hill between Powell and
Stockton. Since the film was in CinemaScope and Color,
contemporary exteriors had to be used, so there are
lots of anachronisms, such as 1950's automobiles and
the SP sign on the Southern Pacific building which
don't fit into the 1940's environment."

Thanks to Tony Turrittin for reporting about Kiss Them for Me:
Here’s a film critics regarded as a bomb. It features Cary Grant and its single cable car segment is right in the middle. They ride a Powell/Mason car.

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for reporting about Man's Favorite Sport:
In Man's Favorite Sport, partially filmed in San
Francisco in 1963, Rock Hudson, who is supposed to be
working at Abercrombie & Fitch, drives his sports car
up California Street, passes a Westbound cable car at
Mason, and makes a left turn down Mason Street to
Pine.

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for suggesting it. Jack reports that "A
California Street Cable Car figures in the finale of Mr. Billion (1977),
filmed, in part, in San Francisco in 1976, but it's a phoney. The front
panel still reads "Presidio Avenue" and the side panel still reads
"California Street Cable R.R. Company" so it's obviously a movie prop,
not a real live operational cable car."

The story involves a rich man who leaves his fortune to his Italian
nephew. To collect, the nephew has to get to San Francisco by a certain date.
It is not a very good movie.

Thanks to Jack Tillmany for reporting about No Escape:
Just for the record: TCM unleashed a rarely seen
turkey titled No Escape (1953), (AKA City on the
Hunt) which supposedly takes place in San Francisco.
Watching it was like a 75 minute root canal. They keep
throwing in postcard like views of SF to remind you
where you were, but the actors (if you can call them
that) never left the cheap studio sets, and only their
doubles were seen in long shots in a couple exterior
shots. About 40 minutes into the film, there's the
traditional Powell & Market shot, with 521 doing the
usual turnaround. Then Lew Ayres (a good actor, but in
his decline here)& Marjorie Steele (inept and grating)
supposedly board 525 (seen in another Powell Street
shot), and exchange some inane conversation while
sitting in the front section, but it's all done in the
studio on a mockup cable car, not a real one. The only
other exteriors of note were a nice, but all too
brief, shot of Mason and Market, with a Muni N car
headed Eastbound, and a brief establishing shot of the
Ferry Building, with Twin Fageol TCs doing the loop.

Pal Joey is a musical about a heel night club singer. Frank
Sinatra plays the title role.

Joey gets run out of a town in the Central Valley and arrives at the
Oakland Pier. He rides a ferry to San Francisco. In one scene he gets off
of an O'Farrell/Jones/Hyde car with Kim Novak. Novak and Rita Hayworth wear
some remarkable costumes.

Dexter Wong reports that Petulia is a romantic drama set in San Francisco. It stars
George C. Scott, Julie Christie and Richard Chamberlain. At the conclusion, former lovers meet
by chance at Powell and California, one on a Powell Street car and the other on a California Street
car.

The only cable car in the movie is a fake one that explodes during a chase scene. I
mention the movie because I remember walking to a doctor's appointment along Bush Street
and seeing cable car tracks on Hyde Street. I had to stop and think for a moment because
there haven't been tracks there for a long time. When I got closer, I saw that they were
painted on the street.

Stephen Goodman recommends the movie because it "starts with an interesting opening
as the credits start and you see and hear this silver thing going from the top to
bottom of your screen. It's the Powell Street cable. The camera then pulls back to
reveal the track then looking up Powell reveals a lone cable car. A great movie!
Only a few shots were taken in SF however as 99.8% was shot in BC and Vancouver."

Dexter Wong reports that The Sniper was "was made in 1952 and
set in San Francisco about a man who has an obession with a type of
woman who who spurned him. So he gets a small rifle and quietly shoots
at them from rooftops. But he is spotted and his description published.
When he rides the Washington-Jackson car down Washington past the
powerhouse, someone recognizes him and in fear he gets off at Mason and
runs away... It has been shown on Turner Classic Movies, but it is rarely
shown elsewhere."

Jack Tillmany reports that: "In WB's Starlift (1951), there's an establishing shot of San Francisco, with a nice
shot of a meet between 507 & another car on the Powell/Bay line, but nothing more. The picture is insufferable."

"Much of the first half hour was filmed in SF in 1948, in some unusual
places, Clay & Larkin, Octavia North of Market, for example. There's just
a single cable car shot on California Street that's only in
the background, so it barely qualifies at all.

"There's also a distant shot, from above, of an N Car heading West on
Duboce from Market, but other than that, no streetcars either. It has the
U.S. Maritime Service promotional paint job, so it's probably 148,which
ran a lot on the N Line around that time.

"I figure sooner or later someone is going to ask about this one, so
you can file this info. It's a darn good film about the FBI (Dennis
O'Keefe) and Scotland Yard (Louis Hayward) working together to oust some
Commies from a secret atomic project."

Jack Tillmany reports that "Even though What's Up, Doc? (1972) was filmed in San Francisco, there's only
a very brief shot of two California Street cable cars crossing at California and Leavenworth; you can add it to your
inventory, just for the record."

Woman on the Run is a movie that Walter Rice
recently saw. Thanks to Walter for the review:

Woman on the Run is a neat romantic thriller from 1950 about a
San Francisco woman (Ann Sheridan) who, along with an intrepid newspaper
reporter (Dennis O’Keefe), goes in search of her in-hiding husband after
he witnesses a gangland murder -- she must find him before the underworld
does. Depicting marital estrangement while offering up a vivid,
progressive portrait of feminine strength; the film is a superb showcase
for Miss Sheridan, who balances resentment, fear, and ferocity with
graceful fluidity while navigating the winding tale’s shadowy twists and
turns. There are many tense moments along the way especially when Miss
Sheridan ends up riding on a roller coaster. Despite views of
Playland’s "Laughing Sal" this action is filmed at Santa Monica’s Ocean
Park. The actress’ forcefully nuanced performance is nicely
counterbalanced by O’Keefe’s charmingly blunt one-dimensionality. Robert
Keith is first-rate and intriguing as San Francisco police inspector
Ferris.

There are many street scenes of San Francisco of 1949. We see Muni "Iron
Monsters," including an A-type of the F-Stockton, then new trolley
coaches the highlight being a Twin, and yes Sheridan and O’Keefe ride a
cable car -- a California Street Cable Railroad California car up Nob
Hill to Powell Street. Cable car trackage is seen from the rear window
of a Desoto Yellow Cab.